Construction, flooding delaying California Zephyr train

Tuesday

Aug 16, 2011 at 12:01 AMAug 16, 2011 at 3:16 PM

The California Zephyr continues to be the subject of a service alert issued by Amtrak.

According to the rail passenger line, “significant delays and service changes” are possible around Omaha, Neb., through Aug. 31. The California Zephyr to Chicago is scheduled to arrive daily in Galesburg at 11:31 a.m., while the train west is supposed to arrive at 4:38 p.m. daily.

JOHN R. PULLIAM

The California Zephyr continues to be the subject of a service alert issued by Amtrak.

According to the rail passenger line, “significant delays and service changes” are possible around Omaha, Neb., through Aug. 31. The California Zephyr to Chicago is scheduled to arrive daily in Galesburg at 11:31 a.m., while the train west is supposed to arrive at 4:38 p.m. daily.

According to the service alert, “passengers traveling on trains 5 (westbound) and 6 (eastbound) may experience delays of three to five hours.”

Passengers are asked to visit Amtrak.com or call (800) 872-7245 before going to the depot.

The delays are due “in part,” because of track work by the Union Pacific Railroad near Glenwood Springs, Colo., “on select dates through Aug. 27,” as well as a detour because of “severe flooding” near Omaha, Neb.

A woman working at the Galesburg Amtrak depot said she is not allowed to comment. Asked if he felt the three- to five-hour delay was, on average, what is taking place, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said, “I think so.”

Cross-country routes typically have poorer on-time rates than state-supported routes, such as the Illinois Zephyr and the Carl Sandburg, because of the additional miles involved. The California Zephyr travels on BNSF Railway and Union Pacific tracks from Chicago to Emeryville, Calif., in the Oakland-San Francisco area.

There have been a number of service alerts this summer for the California Zephyr, because of both construction and flooding.

While the service alert said the work by the UP is done on select days, Magliari said “it’s most days because of the freight congestion” around the construction and in the Omaha area.

Over the past year, the on-time rate for the California Zephyr was 41.8 percent, according to the Amtrak website. For July it was never on time, according to the website. Amtrak listed problems because of the freight lines as responsible for 39 percent of the delays, with 66.4 percent blamed on BNSF, 33 percent on the Union Pacific and 0.6 percent on Amtrak.

Track and signals were responsible for 26.7 percent of the delays, with operational issues accounting for 14.6 percent.

By way of comparison, Amtrak trains serving Galesburg that have not had to fight construction and flood delays have very good on-time performances. The Southwest Chief, which travels from Chicago to Los Angeles, with two stops daily in Galesburg, had a 75.1 percent on-time performance over the past year, although that dropped to 43.5 percent in July.

All Illinois service, including the Illinois Zephyr, Carl Sandburg and service between Chicago and St. Louis and Chicago and Carbondale, was on time 69.2 percent over the past year, 61.8 percent in July. The two state-supported trains serving Galesburg had outstanding numbers. The Carl Sandburg was here when expected 92.9 percent of the time over the past year, 90.3 percent in July. The Illinois Zephyr was on time 87.1 percent of its daily runs over the past year and 77.4 percent in July.

The Carl Sandburg and Illinois Zephyr travel between Chicago and Quincy, both stopping twice daily in Galesburg.